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John Terry's remarks were 'very hurtful', Anton Ferdinand tells court

by Caroline Davies 5 years ago

Chelsea captain is accused of making racist comments to QPR footballer during match last year

The Queens Park Rangers footballer Anton Ferdinand has told a court he found alleged racist comments made by John Terry "very hurtful" as the trial of the England and Chelsea defender began.

Terry, 31, is accused of calling Ferdinand a "fucking black cunt" during a Premier League match at Loftus Road last October.

He denies the charge, saying the remarks were "sarcastic exclamation" in relation to a perceived "false accusation" made by Ferdinand that he had used the words.

Westminster magistrates court heard that the incident had occurred in the 84th minute of the match, just after Ferdinand and Terry had clashed on the pitch.

Ferdinand said he was not aware of the alleged remarks until after the game, when his then girlfriend showed him YouTube footage on her BlackBerry in the QPR players' lounge.

He said had he known at the time what Terry was alleged to have said, he would have reported it to officials.

"I would have been obviously very hurt," he said, adding that he would not have reacted on the pitch – because "being a professional you can't do that" – but would have dealt with it afterwards.

The court heard of "industrial language" used by players. Ferdinand told the court being called a "cunt" was fine. "But when someone brings your colour into it, it takes it to another level and it's very hurtful."

The chief magistrate Howard Riddle, who is trying the case, heard that Chelsea were down to nine men in the clash when Terry and Ferdinand began trading insults.

As Terry sat in the glass-panelled dock, Ferdinand stood in the witness box opposite. He told the court: "He called me a cunt, and I called him a cunt back. And he gave me a gesture as if to say my breath smelled.

"I said to him: 'How can you call me a cunt? You shagged your team-mate's missus, you're a cunt'."

This was a reference to Terry's alleged affair with his then team-mate Wayne Bridge's ex-girlfriend Vanessa Perroncel.

As Ferdinand jogged down the pitch, he made a "slow fist pump" gesture with his right hand, indicating sex. After the match, the Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole told him: "You can't talk to JT like that."

Ferdinand was asked to meet Terry in the away team's dressing room. He said Terry asked him: "Do you think I racially abused you?"

Ferdinand told the court: "I was like: 'No.' I said: 'No, that never came out of my mouth.'" He said Cole then said: "Yeah, didn't you say that to me?" Ferdinand added: "I said: 'I didn't say that at all.'"

Ferdinand said he and Terry had agreed the incident was "just handbags" – or banter.

But at around 7pm, one hour after the game ended, Ferdinand went to the QPR players' lounge. "My girlfriend at the time said to me, did John Terry racially abuse me. I looked at her like she was crazy and said no."

She then showed him footage sent to her BlackBerry from YouTube, Ferdinand said, and he believed a racist term had been used.

Terry denies a racially aggravated public order offence and claims he was only sarcastically repeating what Ferdinand wrongly thought he had said.

Under cross-examination by George Carter-Stephenson QC, for Terry, Ferdinand denied he had gone into the dressing room because he felt "guilty" about the allegations he had made.

He was accused of missing out key comments in his statement to police because of the "risk of exposing" what he had said to Terry.

The QC asked Ferdinand if he had decided to "up it" and add the racial allegations because he was angry that Terry was not rising to his comments on the pitch. He said he had not.

In a statement made after the incident, Terry said he was offended by the accusation. "Whilst footballers are used to industrial language, using racist terms is completely unacceptable whatever [the] situation.

"I was completely taken aback by this remark as I have never been accused of something like that and I did not take his remark lightly at all, and took strong offence to his suggestion," he said.